A new method for assessing plant lodging and the impact of management options on lodging in canola crop production.

Wei Wu,Bao–Luo Ma

doi:10.1038/srep31890

Abstract

Lodging, defined as the permanent displacement of aboveground parts, is a common problem to cause yield loss, deterioration in seed quality and difficult to harvest in canola (Brassica napus L.) crop production. This study aimed to develop a method for assessing crop lodging, to examine how agronomic practices affected the relationships between root lodging and electrical capacitance traits. Canola plants were more susceptible to root lodging than stem lodging. The electrical measurements were more closely related with anchorage strength (Sp) than stem bending strength (Ss). Among the three electrical measurements, the root capacitance (C) displayed the most consistent and significant relationships with Sp in all three field experiments (R2 = 0.88–0.56; P ≤ 0.01). This study indicates that the risk of lodging can be reduced by using appropriate management practices and variety selection. Enhancing root Sp was advocated as a priority over enhancing stem Ss in cultivar improvement. Electrical measurements, especially of root C, can be considered as a non–invasive technique that could partially replace the intrusive methods used for the in situ assessment of lodging resistance among various agronomic practices or can be applied in breeding programs for selecting genotypes with high yield potentials and strong Sp values.

Highlights

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is a high value crop that is used as vegetable oil for human consumption as well as renewable biodiesel energy, and its meal as animal protein
Great attention has been focused on root system and its related mechanics of root anchorage, as most cereal crops are more likely to undergo root lodging than stem lodging[9,10,11]
When pooled over the two varieties, Ss, Sp, Mp, Ms, and SFp values were 21.3%, 14.0%, 8.1%, 7.6%, and 16.8% higher in the subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) treatment than in the CK plots, respectively (Fig. 1; supplementary Fig. S1; all of the abbreviations and their corresponding explanations are provided in supplementary Table S2)

Summary

Introduction

Canola (Brassica napus L.) is a high value crop that is used as vegetable oil for human consumption as well as renewable biodiesel energy, and its meal as animal protein. Modern breeding programs have selected for varieties with more rigid stems to resistant the crop lodging and high seed yields due to the improvement in harvest index and biomass This breeding strategy would make stem buckling at a basal internode relatively uncommon in modern genotypes. An individual plant’s resistance to lodging depends on its genetic characteristics[12,13], but is related to agronomic management practices the plants encountered in their development for the production of thicker stems and stronger root systems[14,15,16] It is well-known that luxuriant growth under high plant densities and/or excessive N application in cereal crops can substantially increase the risk to crop lodging[8,14,15,16]. Root anchorage in the soil medium is determined by the characteristics of the root system, and root characteristics are important indicators for root lodging resistance[10]

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Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion